CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

DUNGEONS, PART I

FRANCE, 15th CENTURY

I was unable to dislodge the feeling of unease. My conversations with the Spanish Ambassador in regard to our upcoming migration to Spain had taken a very agreeable course. I had obtained the nobleman's pledge to smooth our way into the inner circles of the Spanish court, which would prove of great boot in view of our plans to partake in the discoveries we suspected Spain to undertake in the future. However, my disquietude was impairing my negotiating capabilities, and so I agreed to meet the Ambassador back in Paris later that month in order to finalize our understanding.

The voice inside me had grown louder ever since Niklaus and I had parted ways two days earlier. I should not have let him go to the Baron de Rais all by himself. But at times it was too easy to just renounce all responsibility and simply forget that I was the older sibling whose duty it was to shield the young ones. Niklaus had become our protector the instant we were turned, and I had never once questioned his position, letting him shoulder all the weight alone. It was comfortable for me, and my brother was a natural leader, so the unspoken arrangement suited us both. It did not, however, change the fact that I evaded the responsibility I should have shared with Niklaus.

I gave my horse the spurs like I never had before. Vali seemed to feel my urgency and gave everything he had. During the ride, I tried to get to the bottom of my anxiety. Niklaus was a very strong man and he should have nothing to fear. Still, I was not able to help myself. The rumours about de Rais' warlock were disturbing at the very least, and I knew to trust my intuition. A part of me hoped that I was mistaken and that Niklaus would just be terribly upset at my meddling and subsequently spend half the day yelling at me for spoiling his entertainment.

When I arrived at Tiffauges, de Rais' castle, it was almost dawn. There was an eerie silence about the place. None of the common sounds of a nobleman's residence could be heard – nothing from the stables, no clanking of pots from the kitchen, no servant chatter. I dismounted my horse, tying the reins to a tree next to the portal. There was no sign of Tempest, and I reckoned he was somewhere inside the Baron's stables. I looked up when I felt the first few raindrops on my face. I had never been an overly superstitious man, but there was something disconcerting about how the rain had chosen this precise moment to begin pouring from the skies. I flashed into the castle at supernatural speed, halting in the great hall. Listening carefully, I made out the faint sounds of human voices somewhere beneath me. Dungeons? Given the Baron's reputation, it would not surprise me, and I silently darted towards the direction of the voices.

I arrived at a long, barely lit corridor with a considerable number of doors. Under the very last on the left side of the hall, I detected a faint shimmer of light. A very disagreeable, high-pitched voice was cackling.

"Monsieur le Baron, I believe we did a good day's work, would you not agree?"

"Indeed, Prelati. Would you think your excellent spell on our guest may be renewed for another night? I have grown to rather enjoy an audience, and just the way his eyes went blank over the last one was worth all your efforts. Our friend will be very satisfied, too."

"It could very well last another night, however, I cannot say with complete certainty how long my spell will still hold up this time. As I explained to you earlier, continuous repetition considerably weakens a spell. And we will need to be very far away from him and our friend the minute it wears off. I would therefore suggest we leave him here and move on. We should not take any risks. Our friend is the only one able to deal with him and keep him from harming us, as was agreed."

"I concur, though I have to admit it is hard to put an end to our enjoyment. It was never this good, Prelati."

"We shall find another venue, and if it pleases you, I will find you another spectator."

I had heard enough. They had indeed done something to Niklaus, and I knew perfectly well who the one person able to deal with him was. My father. Which meant there was absolutely no time to lose. Without further ado, I burst through the door and went for the small man whom I identified as the warlock, Prelati. Before he had time to even take a breath, I had crashed his head into the nearest wall. At the very same instant, I threw a mildly strong punch into de Rais' face. He collapsed momentarily. I grabbed the iron shackles dangling from the ceiling, noticing they were full of blood. As was the entire room. I closed the shackles around both men's wrists and finally turned around.

Niklaus. Had my heart still been beating, it would have stopped at the sight of him. He was physically unharmed, shackled to a sturdy wooden chair facing the center of the chamber. How had they managed to lay hands on him at all? When I looked at his face, I knew that there was something very wrong with him. His features were devoid of any emotion and his eyes were dead. He looked through me like I wasn't even there. What on Earth had they done to him? He was Niklaus, the Original vampire – he was invincible! Nothing could ever harm him! I knew I was in shock and had to pull myself together right now. If there had ever been a time when my brother needed my help, it was now.

I knelt in front of him, tearing off his shackles. "Niklaus. Can you hear me?" There was no reaction. He did not move. I shook his arms. "Niklaus!" He was beginning to seriously frighten me, and we needed to leave this place. If our father saw him like this, he was dead meat, just like all of us. After a moment's deliberation, I slapped him hard across the face. Still nothing. His eyes did not waver and there was not the slightest hint that he had actually noticed my presence.

There was a light sound behind me. The iron rings were clanking, and I turned around to see the warlock stirring. A quick glance about the room revealed a considerable amount of weapons in one corner. I chose a large knife with a grooved blade and casually strode over to Prelati whose eyes were wide with terror.

"Who are you?" he grated, recoiling when I approached him.

"That is none of your business. What did you do to him?" I asked with the cold and aloof voice I knew intimidated everyone the most.

"Nothing!" the man squawked, his tone reminding me of swine during slaughter. He repelled me to an incredible extent.

"Wrong answer." I took his little finger, and without any hesitation chopped off his fingertip. He screamed, and again, I was reminded of a pig's squeal. Disgusting.

"Would you like to rethink your answer, vermin? I can tear you apart bit by bit if it pleases you," I said conversationally. And then I smelled something and smiled. He had wet his pants out of fear. Grabbing his next finger, I held the knife to it. "So?"

"No!" he screeched. "I spelled him! It is an immobilization spell! He can't move or speak, but he is otherwise unharmed! Please, good sir, let me go!"

"How long will the spell last?"

"Please, sire, please!"

"How long?"

"Not long. If the spell is not renewed, an hour, maybe even less, maybe a little longer. Please!"

I dropped the knife. For a second, I considered killing him right away, but then decided against it. He and his abomination of a master would burn, and burn slowly. I would make sure of it. Gilles de Rais had an impressive number of enemies who would be more than willing to investigate any concrete hints in regard to his purported activities. And if evidence could not be found, it would be constructed. However, I was certain there was no need for it – these dungeons would tell a very animated tale of the duo's misdeeds.

I lifted Niklaus from the chair and threw him over my shoulder. Without another glance at the inferno in the dungeons, I left, ignoring the warlock's fearful pleas. Carrying my brother out of the Château, I saw that the skies had opened their floodgates. Rain was pouring down like the great deluge, and I heard Vali neigh uncomfortably. Flashing towards him, I untied the reins and mounted my horse, pulling up Niklaus' limp body and placing him in front of me.

As we were about to set off, I heard another very loud whicker that was cut off abruptly. Suddenly, Niklaus' head moved. It was only an inch, but he had stirred.

"Tempest," he whispered, his voice broken and toneless.

A ghostly chuckle sounded through the pouring rain. The one voice I would recognize anywhere, anytime. "Are you looking for this?"

I turned Vali around, bracing for the moment I would have to face my father. And there he was, in the flesh. The man we had been running from for over four hundred years and whom we had successfully evaded thanks to the wit and strategy of my younger brother.

Mikael was smiling. My gaze wandered to the large sword he was wielding. Blood was dripping from its blade, the smell hitting me like a brick wall now. Not human. Animal. Very slowly, I let my eyes drift to his other hand.

It was Tempest. Mikael was holding Tempest's severed and bloodied head in his hand. His eyes were on Niklaus, and his smile grew wider.

"Well, BOY, so it would seem that you had a very pleasant stay. I do hope you enjoyed the Baron's hospitality. I for one must say that I always do. He might not be a very far-sighted man, but there is something to be said for his creativity, would you not agree? Such a shame that you will need to find yourself a new horse, though." He paused, and I recoiled at the hate blazing out of his eyes when he looked at my brother again. "One day, you will get what you deserve, BOY. This was just a little hors d'œuvre, so to speak. Maybe this will at least teach you to show some gratitude towards your brother."

He was looking at me now. "Son," he began when I interrupted him.

"I am not your son. Not once have you been a father to me, or to any of my siblings. As far as I am concerned, I was born to no father. You call us abominations. Have you ever contemplated yourself? A man who has been driven by the hatred for his own children for the duration of his entire existence, human or otherwise. You are nothing. Nothing."

Giving Vali the spurs, I took hold of Niklaus and raced off into the fallow morning light.

Mikael's voice sounded behind me. "One day, he will get what he deserves, Elijah. You all will if you stay with him. Do not make the wrong choice, son. He is unworthy of your loyalty. He is a COWARD!"

Elijah paused for a long while. Caroline was hanging on his every word, her eyes never leaving his face as if she expected to read some deeper meaning to the events in his features. With a sigh, he continued to speak.

"We arrived home half a day later. Niklaus had regained full control over his body by then, but he did not utter a single word. He went to his room and just sat in a chair, unmoving." There was a sadness about Elijah's eyes that touched her. "He sat there for three days and three nights without moving so much as a finger. He did not eat, drink or feed, he did not sleep, he did not acknowledge anyone's presence. I can only imagine what he went through."

"So he did turn it off then?" Caroline asked quietly.

"He did not. I thought so too, at first, but had he done it, he would at least have been able to function. No, I believe the modern-day term for what he was during those three days and nights is 'catatonic'."

Caroline stared at the water. "And when he came back?" she whispered.

Elijah sighed, remembering. "It was the one moment when I finally grasped how strong Niklaus really is. He pulled himself out of it. He did not succumb to insanity, he did not undertake a killing spree. He just came down the stairs like nothing ever happened. I had told my siblings that he was inconsolable about Tempest's death and that we would need to move on to Spain because our father was on our track. So he walked into the hall with his usual swagger and just joined the conversation about our upcoming move. His mind was clear and he was his usual commanding self again. But something had changed. On the surface, the change was very subtle and someone who did not really know him would probably never have noticed. You know how he always says that you are full of light?" She nodded, not sure where Elijah was going.

"Well, despite everything that happened to him and despite everything he had done – and do not delude yourself, those were cruel times and Niklaus can be a very cruel man – there was always some sort of light about him. Not as strong as yours, dear Caroline, but it was there."

She looked at him in surprise. It was the very last thing she would ever have expected anyone to say about Klaus, even the brother who undoubtedly loved him.

"So after Tiffauges, that light was gone. The playfulness that was still in him before had almost completely disappeared. I caught eventual glimpses after many decades, but those were so rare. Only in recent weeks has the old Niklaus surfaced with greater frequency, and as I already mentioned, it is due to you." He smiled at her warmly.

"What happened to him, Elijah?" she said almost inaudibly.

"Apart from his being immobilized, I do not know."

Caroline stared at him incredulously. "But…"

"He never spoke of it. Not once in six hundred years. Not even now that Prelati has returned. Whatever it was, it must have caused him great shame or he must perceive it as a monumental weakness. You need to know that Niklaus spent the first four hundred years of being a vampire searching for cruelty. Every evil mankind has ever been able to think of – he has seen it firsthand. I am not certain, but I believe it was his own strange way of making himself believe that whatever he did, there was always someone worse than him. And quite honestly – it is true. He is far from being the greatest monster to walk this Earth."

"I know," she whispered. "I do not think he is a monster. He can be, and we have all seen that monster. But I don't believe it's the core of his personality."

Elijah took her hand and gave it a light kiss. "I expected no less from you, Miss Forbes."

She smiled lightly but then looked at him with frightened eyes. "Do you have a theory, Elijah? As to what happened to him in that dungeon?"

"A very vague one. But whatever happened, of one thing I am certain: Mikael was behind everything back then, just as he is behind everything now, and that is what makes this so dangerous for Niklaus. Mikael knows perfectly well how to push my brother's buttons and make him lose his reason. His judgment will be impaired, he will be at his most impulsive and vulnerable."

Caroline swallowed. "In the visions the warlock gave me, I saw such a sick kind of greed in the men's eyes… so disgusting…" Her voice broke. The image of Henrik's face contorted in terror was a nightmare, but seeing Klaus like that was unbearable. She gathered her bearings and looked Elijah in the eye.

"Do you think… do you think something like that has played a role?"

The Original closed his eyes for an instant. "I find it unimaginable, but I will have to at least take it into account. However, something tells me that is not quite it. You know de Rais was a child abuser and murderer, a complete pervert?"

"Yes," Caroline answered and purposely added, "Silv told me."

There was a flicker of some deep emotion in Elijah's eyes before he got back to being his usual composed self. "Well, that is the reason I cannot entirely rule out that something of the sort has indeed played a role in the events. But I do not quite see how. However, I am certain that was not what happened to Niklaus."

They were both silent for a while. Caroline tried to suppress the clenching at her gut, but she didn't manage. She couldn't stop seeing Klaus in that dungeon, feeling his pain and his suffering and she could almost hear her heart break for him again and again.

"Do you think he went back to Tiffauges, then?" she asked fearfully.

"Yes, I think he did. Or he will, if he is not yet there."

"Elijah, we can't leave him alone! He can't be put through any of that again, nor should he have to face Mikael all by himself!"

"I am aware of that, dear Caroline, but I cannot let you be anywhere near Mikael. Or even Prelati, for that matter. Niklaus would never forgive me for that, and you can be killed after all. Furthermore, we do need to find that tree. It is our only chance at getting rid of those two for all eternity."

"No. I do not accept that." She pulled her phone from the pocket of her jeans and hit the speed dial. Elijah looked at her, puzzled.

"Lena? I'm sorry to call you so late, but I really need your help. And Stefan's and Damon's. I can't go into too many details now, time's of the essence, so please trust me on this."

"What happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. No, not really, but let's say I'm unharmed. I need you to come to Norway and help find a white oak."

"What? Are you drunk?"

"I'm serious! For once, I really, really need you guys to drop everything and just be here. Please!"

"Is this about Klaus, Care?"

"Yes. It's a very long story. Mikael's back."

"Mikael is WHAT?" Caroline held the phone a few inches from her ear. Elena wouldn't really need a phone, she thought meekly.

"Lena, please. I need you guys, you have to find that damn tree, and I have to go and find Klaus."

There was a short silence. "Did anything happen between you two?"

Caroline closed her eyes. "Yes and no. I promise I'll explain everything, but I have to go and get him."

"Where is that tree?"

"The North Cape, Norway. Klaus' siblings will explain everything once you arrive. Call Rebekah for details on how to get here. Sorry for making you do this, but… Lena. This is vital. Can I count on you?" She knew her voice had taken on a somewhat hysterical touch now, but she didn't care.

Another short silence. "Are you seriously asking me if I am going to help you? What kind of a stupid question is that, Care?"

Relief washed through her like a tidal wave. "Thank you, Lena. Thank you. I will make up for it, I swear!"

"Don't be a moron. Just how many times have you been there for me?"

Caroline smiled. "How are you going to get the boys to come along?"

There was a light giggle on the other end. "I'll mention Elijah. They are both insanely jealous of him. Not that I think they would ever let me go anywhere by myself anyway. Shouldn't be a problem."

"Lena. You know I'll love you forever, but this will make me love you even more. Thank you."

"Whoa. That bad?"

"Think so. Let me know when you get here. I'll tell everyone you'll be coming."

"Where are you going?"

"France." Caroline saw Elijah shake his head and mouth 'Forget it.'

"Lena, I gotta go. Keep me updated, I will do so too! Love you!"

"Love you, too."

She pocketed the phone and looked at Elijah who had crossed his arms over his chest. "Caroline, there is no way I will allow you to go after him. It was a good idea to ask for support troops to speed up our finding the tree, but you are not going to France. I would say, over my dead body, but that pun is a little too obvious."

"Elijah, I appreciate your wanting to shield me, but there is no way in hell that I will let anything happen to him, especially not when he is doing this for my protection. You stay here with Silv and the others, find the tree, and I will go and find him before he can do anything unreasonable. Please! I have to do this!"

The Original looked at her sternly. "Caroline, do you remember how he went ballistic over your going shopping that morning? He dropped everything and raced back in a time even an M6 could not normally make. What do you think is going to happen if he sees you anywhere near Tiffauges? Anywhere near Mikael, for Heaven's sake? If anything happens to you, he will destroy the European Union, followed by all the member countries of the United Nations in alphabetical order."

"Do you want him to face Mikael and Prelati by himself?"

"Of course not. Which is why I am going after him today. Rebekah and Kol are perfectly well equipped to look after everyone."

"And you are going to take me with you. Elijah," she interrupted heatedly when he started to protest, "I am not staying behind. If you leave me here, I will find a way to follow you. And don't you think I stand a much better chance to make it out of this unharmed with you by my side?" She didn't want to admit that she was beyond relieved that Elijah would be going, too. She would have done it by herself, but it would have taken much longer, and he was an Original after all.

"Caroline, I…" he said before she interrupted him again. "We can discuss this when everything is over. You can give me a beating, lecture me for seven days in a row or hate me forever. But can we please just get going?"

Elijah looked at her pensively. With a faint smile, he said, "Caroline, how could I ever hate someone as brave and loyal as you? Someone who cares enough for my brother to stand by his side in blatant disregard of any dangers? I am more grateful to you than you could possibly fathom. Still, I could never forgive myself if anything happened to you."

"Elijah."

He stiffened at the musical voice that sounded from behind them. Caroline turned around to see Silv, wrapped in a plaid, wearing no makeup and looking even more beautiful than usual in the pale morning light.

"Take her with you. He needs to see that she is coming after him. He needs to know what he fights for. He has left for her, yes, but he needs to remember that once he is facing the music. You know how he gets otherwise, and that is really not a good idea with Mikael around."

Caroline looked at Silv gratefully. Elijah hadn't turned around but she saw his eyes close for a second. His hands tightened on the bench. How did Silv ever get the idea that he doesn't want her anymore? After they had been silent for a few minutes, he finally looked at Caroline and nodded.

"So be it. But I will set some ground rules here, Caroline. You will do exactly as I tell you, and you will not question me. If I tell you to run, that is what you will do. If I tell you to leave me – or him – behind and save yourself, you will not argue. I do not doubt that you are a courageous woman who can hold her own and knows how to fight. But I am not taking you with me unless you give me your word."

She could see he was very serious, his eyes focusing on her intently, scanning her face for signs that she would comply with his prerequisite. "You have my word, Elijah."

Silv gave her a strained smile. "Let me spell you both against any sort of magic headaches, so you will at least not have to worry about that. As soon as we find the tree, we will follow you."

"I'll go and pack my bag. I'll see you upstairs." As she left, she couldn't help but listen.

"It is the right decision, Elijah. I can feel it."

"Allow me to express my doubts regarding your judgment when it comes to making the right decision." Caroline could hear the pain in Elijah's voice. Oh, this man was far from indifferent to Silv!

"You never gave me a chance to explain."

"There was nothing to explain. I asked you to make a choice, and that you did. Any further discussion was obsolete."

She heard Silv give a shaky sigh. "If that is how you perceive it, well, then there is indeed nothing I can say to you. Will you still be careful? Please?" There was the sound of Silv's steps when Caroline heard Elijah's whisper.

"Silv."

"Yes?"

"I have not changed."

"I am glad."

Caroline smiled and flashed up to her room to pack.